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Hammer Fillms was adrift in the late 1960s. 1969 to be exact with MOON ZERO TWO and in 1970 with WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH. You have no doubt noticed the outrageous asking price for this single no frills DVD. This is because of the scarcity of the item. Originally issued as part of WarnerContinue reading “MOON ZERO TWO / WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH Is An Eccentric Sci-Fi Double Bill From Hammer Films”

To anyone who hung out at the drive-ins in the early 1960s or watched late night TV later in the decade, most of the titles in this 8 movie 4 disc collection will bring back fond memories. Crown International specialized in cheap fare for the drive-in crowd. Compared to them, American International was MGM butContinue reading “THE RETURN OF CROWN INTERNATIONAL”

While very familiar with the numerous Toho monster/sci-fi movies, I was only vaguely aware of the Daimajin series. I had never seen a complete film and only excerpts from RETURN OF DAIMAJIN. When I saw that amazon had this blu-ray available at a greatly reduced price, I couldn’t resist and now I’m glad I didn’t.Continue reading “DAIMAJIN: STATUEsque Japanese Trilogy Has A Lot To Recommend It”

Edgar Allan Poe’s famous story has the titular character getting its revenge at the end of the story. KURONEKO (black cat in Japanese), the second of director Kaneto Shindo’s two great stylized horror films (after ONIBABA), has not one but two characters getting revenge not once but many times. A mother and her daughter-in-law areContinue reading “THE BLACK CAT – Japanese Style”

A cursory examination of the merits of Japanese cinema would place the highly acclaimed dramas of Akira Kurosawa at or near the top while the Japanese monster movies that followed in the wake of Inoshiro Honda’s original GODZILLA would surely be ranked near or at the bottom even though far more people have seen theContinue reading “ONIBABA: A Remarkable Japanese Horror Film”

…and its sequels, there was THE LOST WORLD. Written as a serialized novel by Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle in 1912, it was initially made into 2 movies. First was a silent film version made in 1925 and then this one from 1960. It was produced, directed, and co-written by Irwin Allen who wasContinue reading “THE LOST WORLD (1960): Before JURASSIC PARK…”

I first encountered Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s THE LOST WORLD in the 1960 version with Michael Rennie, Jill St. John and Claude Rains. I was 8 years old and had yet to develop my fascination with silent movies. That would come a few years later. I first became aware of this movie’s existence when IContinue reading “THE LOST WORLD (1925): The Definitive Restoration For The Foreseeable Future”

When I was growing up in the 1950s and the early 1960s, I remember reading about this film in TV GUIDE (remember when it was a staple in every home?) and looked forward to seeing it. Unfortunately in those pre-cable/streaming days, it was never shown on a channel that could be picked up on theContinue reading “DANTE’S INFERNO (1935): Spencer Tracy’s Last Fox Film Finally Available”

I had seen stills of this 1911 Italian epic for many years but it wasn’t until 2005 that I had the opportunity to see it. That was shortly after this DVD was released by Snapper UK. A quick look at the other titles available from that label indicate that they primarily released concert footage ofContinue reading “L’INFERNO (1911): Dante Goes To Hell And He Can Take The Soundtrack With Him”

Edward L. Cahn has become a forgotten man among low budget filmmakers. Not as gifted as Edgar G. Ulmer nor stunningly incompetent like Ed Wood Jr or as prolific as William Beaudine, Cahn was nevertheless responsible for many of the more memorable moments which occured in 50’s B movies. To the first generation raised onContinue reading “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1962 – VHS Only): Low Budget Version Is Well Done But Is Still Underappreciated”